Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Marvel's July previews reviewed

If you read through Marvel's solicitations for the comics they intend to publish in July of this year, which you can do here, you'll see repeated references to "X-Men trading card variant." From the examples (or should I sa x-amples?) seen, these appear to be Jim Lee-drawn trading cards from the early '90s, presumably blown-up to comic book cover size. The images above are those from Avengers, Uncanny Avengers and Generation X, respectively.

That's kind of weird, even by the standards of modern variant covers. For one, it seems like a weird, roundabout way to get variant covers from superstar comics artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee for most of your books. It makes me wonder what Lee thinks about it, and what Marvel's motivation was, exactly; like, are they trolling him here? Will he get paid for each of these, or does Marvel own all those images with his signature on him, and he's already made all the money he's going to make from them, not getting any sort of royalty? If he is getting paid, then that's also kind of weird, given his current position.

But considering that these images all seem like they must have been created around 25 years or so ago now, it seems deeply unfair to Lee. It's a little like sharing a now famous and successful writers work from high school just because you have access to it, you know? Granted, Jim Lee in the early '90s was still a pretty okay artist, and was hella popular, but those aren't exactly the best examples of his work anymore.

As to the comics that will be appearing under those variant covers, well, read on for some thoughts on a few of the ones that jumped out at me this month...

ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #6
GERRY DUGGAN (W) • AARON KUDER (A/C)
As if the Guardians didn’t have enough trouble keeping off the radar of the Nova Corps, they’ve now run afoul of the Fraternity of Raptors! Can’t a space hero get a break?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Based on the cover image, I have to assume that "the Fraternity of Raptors" means "Group of Dudes Who Dress A Little Like Birds of Prey" and not, like, an actual frat whose membership is completely composed of actual raptors. Can you imagine how terrifying the latter would be? I mean, fraternities and velociraptors are like two of the scariest things I can imagine. So putting them together...? Brrr!

I like this Spider-Mobile looking car thing. I am so behind on Amazing Spider-Man at this point though I don't think I'll ever catch up, or even be able to figure out how to catch-up. The last issue I read...let's see...was the one where he met newly-elected President Barack Obama...? So yeah, I'm about eight years behind now.

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE — THE COMPLETE COLLECTION VOL. 2 TPB
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE & DAN SLOTT
Penciled by STEVEN KURTH, HUMBERTO RAMOS, RAFA SANDOVAL, JORGE MOLINA, MAHMUD ASRAR & STEVE UY
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
In the wake of the Skrull Invasion, the public has lost faith in the Initiative! What a time for Reptil to make his mark on the Marvel Universe! As storm clouds gather, the members of the black-ops Shadow Initiative must abduct one of their own — who has defected to Hydra! But Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign changes everything. Where Camp Hammond once trained future Avengers, Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. now trains tomorrow’s Dark Avengers! The new principals are Taskmaster and the Hood, and they’re registering villains as heroes and spreading Norman’s empire across the nation. But those who once made up the Initiative aren’t about to let this happen. Hunted by the law, hidden from sight, a Resistance has formed — and its members are out to stop H.A.M.M.E.R. by any means necessary!
Collecting AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #20-35, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE SPECIAL and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE FEATURING REPTIL.
456 PGS./Rated T+ …$34.99

I'm currently about 68% finished with a year-long project to reorganize my comics midden (I only spend a few hours every other week on it, which is why it's taking so long; I have a lot of comic books in long boxes, but not that many), and am just now finishing up the Marvel teams portion of my collection. Having just bagged and boarded all these goddam Initiative books, I gotta say, this looks tempting. I wish you could, like, trade in your single issues to Marvel and for, like, a $10 fee get a collection like this back in return. I think a hoard of trades would be far preferable to a midden of comic books--and less of a fire hazard, too!

DOCTOR STRANGE/PUNISHER: MAGIC BULLETS TPB
Written by JOHN BARBER
Penciled by ANDREA BROCCARDO, DOMo STANTON & Jason Muhr
Cover by MICHAEL WALSH
The Master of the Mystic Arts and the One-Man War on Crime unite their unique talents! When mafia demons strike, it’ll take the combined skills of Doctor Strange and the Punisher to stop them! But does this mean Stephen Strange will adopt Frank Castle’s lethal ways? Or will the Punisher learn some new tricks? The Sorcerer Supreme works on being a little more grounded, while Frank expands his worldview in surprising new directions. But with monstrous mobsters on the rampage, this mismatched pair have their work cut out for them! The very different worlds of two of Marvel’s most unique characters collide, and the fate of New York is at stake!
Collecting DOCTOR STRANGE/PUNISHER: MAGIC BULLETS #1-4.
128 PGS./Rated T+ …$15.99

If this isn't a story about Doctor Strange and The Punisher going back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination and accidentally causing it instead, I'll consider the title of this series completely wasted.

Seriously, have any of you guys read this yet? I'm curious because of how weird the team-up itself is (although now that I've read Doctor Strange and The Secret Defenders I know Doctor Strange and The Punisher have totally teamed-up before!), but don't really know anything about the creators.

EDGE OF VENOMVERSE #2 (of 5)
CHRISTOPHER HASTINGS (w) • IRENE STRYCHALSKI (a)
Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA
...
A PINK NIGHTMARE! The wall-breaking wunderkind we call Gwenpool gets ahold of the VENOM SYMBIOTE and turns into a sword-slinging, web-swinging master of disaster! But it won’t all be fun and games when Gwenpool comes across something huge… something that will directly lead to the Venom event of 2017!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I still maintain that this is a very good idea for a comic book series. I just hope there's a Venomized Squirrel Girl in future issues. (I will settle for a Venom-possessed Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, though.)

EDGE OF VENOMVERSE #3 (of 5)
SIMON SPURRIER (w) • TIGH WALKER (a)
Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA
...
THE SYMBIOTIC SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE! Robbie Reyes was just an average, ordinary super hero with a flaming skull…right up until he found himself bonded with a dangerous extraterrestrial symbiote! Don’t miss the first daring drive of the HOST RIDER!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Oh hey, is that what they mean when they say tongues of flame...?

CHAMPIONS #10
MARK WAID (W) • HUMBERTO RAMOS (A/C)
...
SECRET EMPIRE TIE-IN!
The Champions are put to the ultimate test. This is no small-town problem they’re facing — it’s up to them to help right an entire world turned upside down!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Okay, I give up. Whose that patriotic-looking young man on the hoverboard...?

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #22
RYAN NORTH (W) • ERICA HENDERSON (A/C)
When Doreen Green and Nancy Whitehead enter a mysterious programming competition, they don’t suspect that the prize for winners will be…an all-expenses-paid trip to the SAVAGE LAND! Yes: THE SAVAGE LAND! Also known as “a mysterious tropical region of Antarctica that we discovered is actually populated by DINOSAURS”! In the Marvel Universe, I mean. In OUR universe, the only thing ever discovered in that region was a note from Robert Scott’s doomed expedition to the South Pole (he arrived there weeks after his competition, Roald Amundsen, got there first), which read in part, “This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without the reward of priority”! The story of those Antarctic expeditions is fascinating, but OURS IS PRETTY FASCINATING TOO, plus it has Squirrel Girl AND dinosaurs in it!! So maybe read up on the other ones but definitely check out our comic right away.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

VENOM #152
MIKE COSTA (W) • GERARDO SANDOVAL (A)
COVER BY Francisco Herrera
X-MEN TRADING CARD VARIANT COVER BY JIM LEE
“THE LAND BEFORE CRIME” CONTINUES! Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote are reunited, but something’s wrong! The symbiote can’t contain itself within Eddie’s veins and has started seeping out of his pores as he sleeps. To make matters worse, Stegron is aiming to turn all of New York into dinosaurs by sunrise…and Venom is DINNER!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Oh hey, this new Venom series is up to issue #152 already? Huh. I guess I missed the solicitations for issues #2-#151 or so.

You know, nothing personal against Venom or anything, but I'd really rather read a comic book entitled Stegron The Dinosaur Man that guest-starred Venom rather than vice versa.

X-MEN GOLD #8
MARC GUGGENHEIM (W) • KEN LASHLEY (A)
Cover by ARDIAN SYAF
SECRET EMPIRE TIE-IN!
The Xavier Institute is on lockdown. But the X-Men haven’t succeeded in keeping danger out. Instead, they’ve just locked themselves inside with it. Can the X-Men stop the all-new X-CUTIONER before he claims any more of their number?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Wait, there's really a really real character named X-Cutioner? He's not a brand-new character, or a parody of a dumb '90s character? Because that doesn't seem quite right. And there's no "e" before the "c"...? It's not just a dopey spelling of the word "executioner"...? His name is pronounced "eks-cuesh-nur"...?

2 comments:

All jokes aside, seeing the Fraternity of Raptors showing up in GotG has me excited, as a guy who loved the Abnett/Lanning run on the property but has been continually disappointed with Bendis (the Raptors were introduced in and featured strongly in WAR OF KINGS back in the latter old days of Marvel Cosmic, of course).

The X-Cutioner indeed is a 'real' character who has been around since the nineties, fought the likes of Generation X and The Punisher, and debuted in a major X-Men crossover titled 'The X-Cutioner's Song'.

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J. Caleb Mozzocco is a freelance writer and (extremely) amateur(-ish) artist who lives and works in Ohio.
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